In chapter four of “At Memory’s Edge” entitled “Memory, Countermemory, and the End of the Monument” by author James E. Young, Young discusses the memorials established to mark the country’s suffering during World War II, and specifically the Holocaust in Germany. Historically, memorials for war victims were usually a statue or tomb for a soldier or a victim. However, modern artists have attempted to apply modern-contemporary thoughts and ideas to preserve the memory of the perished Jews. Many of these modern memorials include the artistic philosophies of negative space, the “monument against itself” and “countermonuments” (96). As a result of the war, many of the monuments stress the absence of the dead citizens as the “gap in a nation’s identity, and a hollow at a city’s heart” (112).
Artists’ takes on memorializing the war victims is to rebel against the normality for memorials. In 1995 Horst Hoheisel presented the proposal of Blow Up the Brandenburger for the competition of “Berlin’s Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe”. Hoheisel believed that the best possible way to honor the war victims was to blow up the Brandenburg Gate. He envisioned the gate to be left in ruins. During 1961 to 1989, the bridge was symbolic of the division of East and West Berlin. The artist would transform the gate’s late 18th century function into a way to unify Germany. Society would consider his idea as absurd ,as much of Germany was left in ruins due to World War II’s bombings. His proposal was not accepted for the competition. However, other contemporary artist have managed to use odd strategies through household items or the everyday object. Using household objects signified the absence of the dead war victims. An example of marking non-appearance would be Renata Stih’s and Frieder Schnock’s installations of empty benches. The benches were used to memorialize the Jewish victims of the Bayerische Viertel. The Holocaust killed millions of Jewish lives. Modern art installations bring the concept of the loss of presence within society, and therefore, present a scary thought for many. While the viewer notices the empty sitting of the bench, they can take in account the loss of a human being that brought life to the world.
While new modern memorials are being planned and installed within Germany in order to honor war victims, the United States of America has recently taken down civil war monuments that are thought to be morally wrong. Therefore, I question the German artistic struggle to be similar to the controversy surrounding civil war monuments on U.S. college campuses and on public land. On the campus of University of Mississippi, students and faculty have recently become disturbed by a confederate statue. Recently, the leader of the university has decided, based on historic preservation, to move the statue off campus. The statue glorifies an early southern viewpoint and, as a result, glorifies slavery. Recently, at least 12 Confederate statues have been removed from U.S. college campuses and public land. In 2018, The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) opened The Legacy Museum and National Monument for Peace and Justice opened in Montgomery new museum memorializing slaves opened in Alabama. It includes new contemporary exhibits that memorialize slaves, and others who were lynched during our past. The EJI’s mission is to end racial and economic injustice and promote human rights within America. In Germany and the United States, artists help their countries and societies address painful episodes from their past history and offer new ways to memorialize those who suffered.